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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24770716">in thirty-one days</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikochan_noda/pseuds/mikochan_noda'>mikochan_noda</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>SS one-sentence series [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Gen, Outsider POVs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:49:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,983</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24770716</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikochan_noda/pseuds/mikochan_noda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>sakura, sasuke, and the world that knew it from the very start.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Uchiha Sasuke/Haruno Sakura</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>SS one-sentence series [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1955131</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>in thirty-one days</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>1. the smell of fresh paint</strong><br/>
<br/>
sarutobi couldn’t help but smile underneath his hat, when the young boy took the can of white lacquer from the girl’s hands.<br/>
<br/>
of course, the little girl wilts and protests weakly, which prompts the boy to say she’s being slow, but he can’t hide from his sharp eyes those tiny, flushed ears.</p>
<hr/><p><strong>2. late</strong><br/>
<em><br/>
if only we could have done something</em>, tazuna thought sadly, as the girl grieved, her whole body clutching at the  (<em>young, young, too young</em>)  dead.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>3. phobia</strong><br/>
<br/>
<em>you! what did you do to sasuke-kun?</em><br/>
<br/>
behind the melted skin, orochimaru stretches his lips into a wide grin.<br/>
<br/>
<em>i gave him a parting gift.</em><br/>
<br/>
haruno sakura, still on her knees, trembling with fear - reminds him of a woman who can break mountains, if she so wills.<br/>
<br/>
<em>he will seek me for power.</em><br/>
<br/>
he parts from them with a small warning, a reward for her words that made the boy stand up to him, so he could see sasuke-kun’s potential.  <br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>4. there was no warning</strong><br/>
<br/>
zaku was suddenly facing the earth, arms stretched uncomfortably, with foot lodged between the blades of his back.</p>
<hr/><p><strong>5. keepsake</strong><br/>
<br/>
kabuto doesn’t write the following information in his cards :<br/>
<br/>
sasuke-kun, who is adverse to any physical contact, does not hesistate at sakura-chan’s hold.<br/>
<br/>
haruno sakura is a mere speck in their grand schemes. she would probably perish in the oncoming invasion. in that case, it might even spur the boy into action, making his defection easier, to accept their offer.<br/>
<br/>
sasuke-kun will surely come to them by his own will or by force, where she will surely be helpless to do anything.</p>
<hr/><p><strong>6. night in</strong><br/>
<br/>
it’s almost sunset, hayate stares at each of the participants, and he needs to hear their confirmation that they could go on. he anticipates for uchiha sasuke to reconsider, as it’s no longer a secret to all of the higher-ranking shinobi in the room why he hides his nape.<br/>
<br/>
haruno sakura almost raises her hand, and he was about to call her out, but he stifles the oncoming cough when the boy catches her hand.<br/>
<br/>
<em>so…</em><br/>
<br/>
he wasn’t the only one looking at her.</p>
<hr/><p><strong>7. night out</strong><br/>
<br/>
yuugao stares at the basket of apples at the front door. she adjusts her mask, and laid it on her charge’s bedside desk.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>8. the student becomes the teacher</strong><br/>
<br/>
tsunade had often told her student that it’s better to err at the side of caution, that she should expect that her love will bring out <em>nothing. <br/>
</em><br/>
nothing - but heartbreak &amp; grief  - these are the lessons she had learned.<br/>
<br/>
but sakura, her dear, dear disciple  (<em>daughter</em>), taught her that not all stories end in tragedy.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>9. bravery<br/>
</strong><br/>
sasori sees the green flare of chakra, the sudden spite in her words, at the mere mention of orochimaru.<br/>
<br/>
<em>ah</em>, he muses with a smile, as the girl cracks the cavern. and decimates every wooden weapon he has.</p><p>he remembers a sullen teen, standing behind a snake, that bore young red eyes.</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<strong>10. impulsive</strong><br/>
<br/>
lee aims to win her heart, and instantly insists a match, to prove himself.<br/>
<br/>
and to his triumph, he manages to defeat sasuke-kun.<br/>
<br/>
but sakura-san runs, her arms wide, trying to catch his opponent’s fall, without any care with her knees that skidded on the floor, now covered in bruises.<br/>
<br/>
he almost gave up, but lee was never a quitter.<br/>
<br/>
there’ll be a next time.</p>
<hr/><p><strong>11. a night with no stars</strong><br/>
<br/>
teuchi observes the pair, as  naruto rambles on, and he provides a bit of small talk.<br/>
<br/>
but sakura-chan worries him, staring at the empty seat beside her, her meal still untouched.</p>
<hr/><p><strong>12. silver lining</strong><br/>
<br/>
<em>naruto-kun likes sakura-san</em>, hinata looks at the said girl, who was currently berating the blond loudly before the gates of forest.<br/>
<br/>
but she also sees uchiha-san observing the girl, pretending to be unaffected, with the same eyes that hinata often sees when she looks in a mirror.<br/>
<br/>
hinata assures herself, that at least, someone was suffering her same predicament.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>13. drowning</strong>
</p><p>neji stares at the suffocating miasma of chakra that surrounded the entire clearing.<br/>
<br/>
(<em>he feels the first strings of fear, the wild turns of his red eyes</em>)<br/>
<br/>
but the pink-haired girl, even with her injuries, stands up and runs straight to the uchiha.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>14. his side of the story</strong><br/>
<br/>
shikamaru had always been observant of the people around him, even when he was a young student in the academy.<br/>
<br/>
and he knows that uchiha sasuke - classmate, orphan, prodigy - has always been uncooperative.<br/>
<br/>
yet, when sakura cries, envelops a murderous child on her arms, he collapses on her arms.<br/>
<br/>
uchiha sasuke listens to her.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>15, her side of the story</strong><br/>
<br/>
when ino witnessed her rival (<em>best friend, best friend</em>) cut off her hair with one swipe of her knife, still not moving an inch away from her spot where her team-mates lay -<br/>
<br/>
ino had to do something.<br/>
<br/>
she can’t be here, sitting, doing nothing.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>16. indestructible</strong><br/>
<br/>
tenten knows that the haruno vs. yamanaka qualitfying match was a standard fight, that ended with an ordinary draw.<br/>
<br/>
but she had witnessed how frightening haruno sakura could be.<br/>
<br/>
( <em>it was a single kunai on her hand, but she wields it ferociously.</em> )<br/>
<br/>
it’s no wonder, why lee had tried to win this little girl’s favor. and this is why, she respects haruno sakura.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>17. monster</strong><br/>
<br/>
gaara thinks, insane and furious, at how those green eyes stared at him defiance. this little, <em>weak</em> kunoichi that he could crush with a tide of sand.<br/>
<br/>
but no, she stands before the uchiha, ready to fight, <em>you have to kill me</em>, her stance screamed silently.<br/>
<br/>
and gaara, for the first time, feels fear.<br/>
<br/>
(<em>years later, gaara thinks as his brother breathes heavily, now safe from dying of poison, that he should have known why.</em> )<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>18. dropping your guard<br/>
</strong><br/>
pakkun stares at the sasuke, face still stained with marks, still trembling with exhaustion.<br/>
<br/>
he looks at her, in pain and sadness, at the unconscious girl, his hand still on her nape.<br/>
<br/>
“take care of sakura.”<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>19. rusty</strong><br/>
<br/>
karin could taste three different kinds of metal: the blood and the bile that filled her mouth, and the tears from a stranger’s face.<br/>
<br/>
sasuke-kun stabbed her without any care at all - but here he is, reduced to a coward’s way, stabbing a kind girl ( <em>sakura, her name is</em> sakura ) from behind, by her neck - providing her a quick and painless death.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>20. my mistake</strong><br/>
<br/>
the world explodes with sound and light, sakura-san runs to him with her first raised.<br/>
<br/>
sai would have told her how reckless she was, running without any care, to such an unfamiliar territory.<br/>
<br/>
but to his surprise, instead of an attack, uchiha-san calls her, <em>sakura ka</em>?<br/>
<br/>
and the world pauses, as she turns her full attention to the man that stood before them, his red eyes (<em>it was red, surging with irritation and hate</em>) becoming as cool as coal, meeting her gaze.</p>
<hr/><p><strong>21. rewind the time</strong><br/>
<br/>
itachi feels his flesh crumble, telling that no matter what he did, or chose, he’ll always love him.<br/>
<br/>
but he lets a small smile escape, secretly knowing that he’s not the only one who felt the same way.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>22. exposed</strong><br/>
<br/>
“so what are you to him?”<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>23. a hot cup of tea</strong><br/>
<br/>
shizune once asks her to take a break, a hot cup on her hand.<br/>
<br/>
but sakura refuses, and she continues to don the flak jacket.<br/>
<br/>
“i’m sorry, shizune-sempai.” sakura bows, her fist taut, knowing that she had stolen one of her potent paralyzing poisons during the time she was distraught over tsunade-sama. “i’ll explain everything, when everything is over.”<br/>
<br/>
but shizune only embraces her.<br/>
<br/>
“it’s alright.”<br/>
<br/>
besides, the hitch in sakura’s breath, the bruises on her neck - it had explained a lot for her.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>24. glory</strong><br/>
<br/>
hashirama once told that the worst curse for an uchiha would be for him to love so much, that it can destroy everything.<br/>
<br/>
and he witnesses her, the child that painfully reminded him so much of her grand-daughter, break the earth and bones with her hands. <br/>
<br/>
but then, the uchiha boy moves faster than anything he had seen before, to protect her.<br/>
<br/>
oh, he’s already dead anyway. <br/>
<br/>
it can’t hurt for the world to end a bit earlier.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>25. the other side of the wall</strong><br/>
<br/>
“i’ll return your son back to your home, i promise.”<br/>
<br/>
sakura prays silently to the graves in front of her. she suppresses the shiver when the cold wind kisses her cheeks in a quiet thanks.</p>
<hr/><p><strong>26. staying warm<br/>
</strong><br/>
madara is entertained, as the girl froze in fear, before she disappears to be return back to the real world.<br/>
<br/>
and now, he is more impressed as she runs to him, fist raised, already thawing the ice in her gut to be replaced with the fire in her heart.<br/>
<br/>
but what had him more amused, was when all the plans that seemed to run behind sasuke’s mind flew out in a second, following the girl without any hesitation.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>27. misguided</strong><br/>
<br/>
“he must be a great guy if you’re in love with him.”<br/>
<br/>
(<em>later on, the iwa nin remembers his words as he sees her fight alongside the feared uchiha.</em>)<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>28. when the power fails</strong><br/>
<br/>
“what about my chakra?”<br/>
<br/>
haruno sakura flares her flesh in vines, and together, they carve a path for sasuke to return.<br/>
<br/>
obito knows that she had never forgiven him for all the transgressions he had done.<br/>
<br/>
but as sasuke catches her, he believes that a single chance of redemption for an uchiha is enough.</p>
<hr/><p><strong>29. tattoo</strong><br/>
<br/>
<em>how long have you loved sasuke?</em><br/>
<br/>
sakura is gone, off to save sasuke.<br/>
<br/>
again and again, she gives her all - tries her best, to help him, to aid all all of them.<br/>
<br/>
for a shinobi, she cares too much.<br/>
<br/>
she loves too much, that it will definitely kill her someday.<br/>
<br/>
sakura might love a thousands times for sasuke, but it would be painful if she had to wait for him to return it back. it might be even too late, when that moment happens.<br/>
<br/>
kakashi fears for her.<br/>
<br/>
but to his surprise, they return with sasuke.<br/>
<br/>
and kakashi cannot erase from his memory, what he had seen : sasuke disentangling his arm around her, and sakura almost stumbles. the boy reaches out again,  but she gains her bearings, and the hand drops.<br/>
<br/>
kakashi, for the first time in this damned war, looks forward to have a small conversation with his estranged student and his awkwardness.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><strong>30. it all comes back to this<br/>
</strong><br/>
kaguya looks at the green suns that burned defiantly, as he looks at indra’s unforgiving eyes.<br/>
<br/>
<em>why my son?</em>, she cries, <em>i have loved you first</em>.<br/>
<br/>
(but she knows, that this [<em>his</em>] world had loved him the most.)</p>
<hr/><p><strong>31. three wishes</strong><br/>
<br/>
when naruto was a kid, he wished sakura-chan, that pretty pink-haired girl who sat at the back of the room, would see him.  she was too shy, too quiet, too vibrant to be neglected in a corner.<br/>
<br/>
he only wishes for her to stand out more.<br/>
<br/>
(but when sakura sees sasuke, she gets up from her seat, blushes, and all of her timidity disappears, trying to reach out)<br/>
<br/>
naruto becomes twelve, and knows this was an opportunity to make up lost chances. so he attempts to impress sakura-chan.<br/>
<br/>
he wishes for sakura-chan to see him.<br/>
<br/>
(but sakura reaches out, embraces a slightly disoriented sasuke, and when the bastard turns to look at her, he knew he lost. sakura cares for him, yes. but with sasuke, sakura-chan is…)<br/>
<br/>
and now, naruto has won a war, has all of his friends, celebrating that they are living. sakura-chan refuses to sit still, her hands still glowing, those vines of chakra on her body still flaring. she’s still doing so much, and she should stop or else…<br/>
<br/>
(and sasuke holds her hand, pulls her to sit beside him. she inhales sharply, and only naruto saw him smile.)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>posted last july 29, 2014 [<a href="https://lilmikomiko.tumblr.com/post/93123987820">link</a>]</p></blockquote></div></div>
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